Amp EVs Secures EPA Nod for E-Gen

Ohio’s Amp Electric Vehicles – proprietors of the Workhorse brand – report U.S. EPA approval of the Amp E-Gen Truck. The vehicle has a 2.4-liter spark ignition engine as an emergency generator to charge the mostly electric truck’s battery pack.

The E-Gen extended-range drive from Amp Trucks includes a 2.4-liter engine.

“As configured in the E-Gen Truck,” the company says, “the combination of the right-sized battery pack coupled with the security of an on-board backup generator and a transmission-less direct-drive system, provides the industry with a cost-competitive electric truck that also reduces range anxiety typically associated with electric trucks.”

“An E-Gen Workhorse truck will deliver the equivalent of 20 mpg compared to the 7.5 mpg operators get now,” Amp adds. The engine comes on only if the battery pack only if the pack’s state of charge falls below a predetermined threshold, and the vehicle drive selector is in Park.

‘Game-Changer’

Amp EVs president Marty Rucidlo calls it “a game-changer for fleet operators interested in reducing the life-cycle costs of their vehicles.”

The engine allows Amp to produce an EV with a smaller battery pack, Burns says – a competitively-priced EV that yields a positive return on its incremental cost in as little as three years, while eliminating operator concerns about range.

The Sky’s the Limit

“The real benefit to the fleet operator, and perhaps the most exciting element of this, is that the new powertrain significantly reduces operating costs,” Burns said.

The E-Gen powertrain will be available in Amp’s new W-88 Workhorse medium-duty trucks in 2015.

Separately, Amp is talking up its work on an aerial drone dubbed Horsefly that may someday be used, in tandem with E-Gen to deliver packages for companies like Amazon.

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